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Computer Science > Programming Languages

arXiv:2109.06557 (cs)
[Submitted on 14 Sep 2021 (v1), last revised 31 Dec 2022 (this
version, v6)]

Title:The concept of class invariant in object-oriented programming

Authors:Bertrand Meyer, Alisa Arkadova, Alexander Kogtenkov
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    Abstract: Class invariants -- consistency constraints preserved
    by every operation on objects of a given type -- are fundamental
    to building, understanding and verifying object-oriented
    programs. For verification, however, they raise difficulties,
    which have not yet received a generally accepted solution. The
    present work introduces a proof rule meant to address these
    issues and allow verification tools to benefit from invariants.
    It clarifies the notion of invariant and identifies the three
    associated problems: callbacks, furtive access and reference
    leak. As an example, the 2016 Ethereum DAO bug, in which $50
    million were stolen, resulted from a callback invalidating an
    invariant.
    The discussion starts with a simplified model of computation and
    an associated proof rule, demonstrating its soundness. It then
    removes one by one the three simplifying assumptions, each
    removal raising one of the three issues, and leading to a
    corresponding adaptation to the proof rule. The final version of
    the rule can tackle tricky examples, including "challenge
    problems" listed in the literature.

Comments:    Revised version following refereeing
Subjects:    Programming Languages (cs.PL); Software Engineering
             (cs.SE)
ACM classes: D.1; D.2; D.3; F.3
Cite as:     arXiv:2109.06557 [cs.PL]
             (or arXiv:2109.06557v6 [cs.PL] for this version)
             https://doi.org/10.48550/arXiv.2109.06557
             Focus to learn more
             arXiv-issued DOI via DataCite

Submission history

From: Bertrand Meyer [view email]
[v1] Tue, 14 Sep 2021 09:59:33 UTC (1,318 KB)
[v2] Wed, 22 Sep 2021 16:19:19 UTC (1,318 KB)
[v3] Sat, 9 Oct 2021 10:33:12 UTC (1,318 KB)
[v4] Sun, 21 Aug 2022 11:39:11 UTC (1,815 KB)
[v5] Tue, 30 Aug 2022 11:34:37 UTC (1,814 KB)
[v6] Sat, 31 Dec 2022 22:39:27 UTC (2,174 KB)
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